


keep your friends close

by and_hera



Series: hold me fast [4]
Category: King Falls AM (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Kissing, M/M, Monster!Jack Wright, NEW TAG TIME!, Post-Canon, sighs. this is fanservice for all my monsterfucker friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27200795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/and_hera/pseuds/and_hera
Summary: Emily nods once. “It’s not him, Sammy,” she says. “It’snotJack.”“Well, that’s not for you to say, is it,” Jack says. Sammy doesn’t remember hearing the car door open. He’s standing there, though, between Emily and Sammy. His arms are resting on top of the shitty car, chin propped up on his elbows. He’s smiling at Sammy. “Hello, sweetheart,” he says. “Sorry for startling you.”or, the one in which there's... a confrontation.
Relationships: Sammy Stevens/Jack Wright
Series: hold me fast [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956505
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	keep your friends close

**Author's Note:**

> this one was very fun to write. pls enjoy.

You know, Sammy actually _does_ have a sense of self-preservation. Sure, he doesn’t listen to it often, but it’s there.

That’s the reason he immediately jumps out of the car, no matter how much he doesn’t really want to.

He shuts the door and he looks up, and Emily’s standing on the other side of the car. Her fingertips are still glowing, and she’s wiping blood from her nose. “Sammy,” she says, “don’t listen to it.”

“It?”

Emily nods once. “It’s not him, Sammy,” she says. “It’s _not_ Jack.”

“Well, that’s not for you to say, is it,” Jack says. Sammy doesn’t remember hearing the car door open. He’s standing there, though, between Emily and Sammy. His arms are resting on top of the shitty car, chin propped up on his elbows. He’s smiling at Sammy. “Hello, sweetheart,” he says. “Sorry for startling you.”

And it’s _him_. Emily says it isn’t, but it’s him. It’s Jack Wright, in the flesh, same curls, same gap between his teeth. It’s- well, it’s him, but then if you look closely, it’s like the edges are blurred. Sammy takes a step forward, and if he reaches his hand across the car, he can touch Jack’s face.

Emily says, “Sammy, don’t.”

Jack says, “Don’t listen to her. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

Sammy reaches his hand across the car, and he touches Jack’s face. And it’s him. The angles are all wrong, but it’s him. “Jack,” he says. Jack turns his head and kisses Sammy’s palm. “Jack,” he says again, “what happened to you?”

“Nothing happened to me, Sam,” he replies. Sammy can feel his breath on his palm. “I mean, other than the obvious.” He points at his eyes, because they’re fully black, no pupils or whites. “But it’s still me in here.”

Emily puts a hand on his shoulder and he- he doesn’t move away, because that implies that he moved his feet to get away. It’s something like a skittering effect, shifting out of her reach. Sammy’s hand falls onto the roof of the car. “Sammy,” Emily says, “I don’t know what he’s doing here, I don’t know how he got out here-”

“I’m here because you’re here,” Jack interrupts, and he scowls at her. “Please don’t do that again, Unwritten One.”

Emily scowls back. “I’ll do what I damn please,” she replies.

When Sammy, Jack, and Lily were still working together, when they had the morning slot together at 1090 AM, they would bicker over the table. And before they got together, Sammy would steal looks at Jack, and the way the sun would shine in through the windows onto his face. Lily always teased him about it, especially after they got together. 

Sammy remembers one morning in particular, when he and Lily were twenty-four and Jack was twenty-three, and they got a call asking about a joke Jack had made about cryptids. Jack’s face lit up, and he talked about- well, whatever Jack would talk about back then, and Lily was mean to him, and Sammy was caught in the middle so he teased Jack light-heartedly but also told off Lily when she was an asshole. The sun was shining and Jack threw his head back and laughed.

And the sun’s finally high enough that you can see it over the rows and rows of storage units, and it’s shining in Jack’s hair. Emily’s hands are still lit up. Sammy blinks, and Jack’s closer to him than he was a second ago. “C’mon, Sammy,” Jack says sweetly. 

“What do you want?” Sammy asks hoarsely. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“Come with me,” Jack replies. “Like I said.”

“That place isn’t home,” Sammy says.

“It’s better than that.”

“How?” Sammy asks, and he takes a step forward. Emily inhales sharply. “How is it better than home? Jack, we had a _life_ , and then you were gone and I had to make a new one. If you just- if you _stay here_ -”

Jack puts a hand on Sammy’s chest. “It’ll just be you and me,” he says, “and you’ll get used to it eventually. I did.” He laughs. “And I miss you, and I think you should come home.” 

And then Jack kisses him. And it certainly feels like Jack, no matter what Emily says. He tilts his head the same way and Sammy’s lip catches on his teeth. His teeth- they’re sharper. He kisses Sammy, and Sammy kisses him back, and Jack makes a noise in Sammy’s mouth and catches his bottom lip between his teeth. 

If Sammy keeps his eyes closed, he can’t tell the difference between his Jack Wright and whoever this man is now. So he does.

Jack’s other hand is on Sammy’s neck, holding him close- was he this strong before? Sammy runs his tongue across Jack’s canines and then he tastes blood. Sammy runs his hand through Jack’s hair and his fingers catch in knots. His hair is longer. Sammy wonders what Jack thinks of his new hair.

This is the first time in five years that Sammy has kissed Jack. It’s the first time in five years that Sammy’s been close enough to kiss him. He tastes the same, if you ignore the blood.

“You’re not a ghost,” Sammy says, and Jack laughs and says, “Of course not, baby, why would I be?” before kissing him again. 

And then Emily shoves him, and the dream is over, and he stumbles back. “Snap out of it,” she says, or maybe she shouts it. “Sammy. Look at him.” So Sammy does, and he’s still blurry on the edges, eyes still too dark. He’s smiling, and his teeth are still sharp. 

“So there’s another person keeping us apart,” Jack remarks. “Is she mean, like Lily?”

Sammy exhales. “Jack,” he says, “stop.”

“Don’t tell me Lily isn’t mean anymore. It’s in her nature.”

“Jack, she’s your sister. We both love her.”

“Yeah, until she was a stick in the mud. C’mon, Sam.” Jack takes Sammy’s hand into his, and he feels the engagement ring. Runs his thumb over it. “I didn’t think you would ever wear this in public,” he says softly.

Emily reaches out towards him, and he shifts back. “He has us, now,” she says fiercely. “He doesn’t have to hide.” She looks back at Sammy, and he looks at her, and her eyes aren’t glowing but they’re brighter than they should be. He realizes that he’s crying.

“Emily,” Sammy says, “Emily, how are you doing that?”

“I don’t know,” she says, and she isn’t looking at him anymore, just staring down Jack. She’s not as tall as he is, but she’s a tall woman, so she’s blocking most of him. “It’s what I have to do.”

“She has no clue what she’s doing,” Jack comments. 

“You don’t know what I’m doing, either,” Emily replies. “ _Shadowmaker_.”

Jack frowns. “Don’t spoil the surprise.”

Sammy thinks his lip might be bleeding, and he knows he has tearstains going down his face. “I know you’re not him,” he says.

Jack rolls his eyes. “Don’t get all particular. It’s _me_.”

“You’re not really Jack Wright,” Sammy says, “and I’m going to get him back.”

Jack scoffs, and holds out his arms. “Well, I’m right here! Or, he’s right here! Why don’t you just get him now? C’mon, Stevens, if you’re so determined to do it, I’m sure you’ll figure out a way. But oh, wait,” he says, arms lowering, and then he just sort of slides downward into the pavement (into Sammy’s shadow) and appears right next to him. “You can’t do that,” he continues, talking into Sammy’s ear. “You’ve been trying for five years and you still can’t get your fiance back, even when he’s right here.”

Sammy grabs his arm, and Jack grabs his chin and turns his face to his, much gentler, than Sammy might have imagined. “Maybe you should kiss me again,” Jack says. “You know what they say about a true love’s kiss.”

Sammy closes his eyes. “Stop it,” he says. 

“I guess you always were a coward,” Jack says, and he sounds genuinely disappointed. “Oh, Sammy. You know, with all your new friends who let you be yourself, I would have thought you’d have gotten better at this. But you’re still letting me run away again.”

“I’m not- I’m going to find you,” Sammy says, and he wrenches himself from Jack’s grip. “The real you, and I’m going to get you from- whatever is using your body. Or your voice.”

Jack laughs, then. “Sure,” he says. “I believe you.”

He leans in, and he kisses Sammy again, but slower this time. His hands are on Sammy’s shoulders. A second later, he pulls away, and Sammy has to stop himself from chasing after him again. “You have my notebooks,” Jack says. “Good. Use them. And the book you’re looking for- you should go to your secret place again, check in all the corners.”

“What?” Sammy and Emily say at the same time.

Jack laughs. “Trust me,” he says. 

Emily steps forward again, and she holds out her hands towards Jack, who slinks backward and puts his hands up in surrender. “I don’t know how you managed to leave King Falls,” she says, “but get out of here. Leave us _alone_ , Shadowmaker.”

“You’re no fun,” he says. “But you’re interesting, Emily Potter. He reaches out and touches her forehead with his first two fingers, and she immediately falls over. “Oops,” he says, and doesn’t sound very sorry. “Maybe I shouldn’t have done that. Can’t have her dying too soon, right?”

Sammy crouches beside her, grabs her wrist. She has a pulse. “What the hell did you do.”

“Nothing _that_ bad. Promise! But she is unpredictable, so I can never be sure.” Jack kneels down beside Sammy, tugs on his hair until it falls down around his shoulders. “I like it,” he says. “I’ll give you a haircut when you come visit me, though.”

“What do you _want_ ,” Sammy says helplessly. 

“I miss you, sweetheart,” Jack says simply. “It would be nice to have you over sometimes. And I want _her_ ,” he looks at Emily with something like contempt in his eyes, “to stop doing what she’s doing.” He kisses Sammy on the forehead. “Keep your friends close,” he says. “I’ll see you around.”

And then he’s gone, sliding back into their shadows and then disappearing entirely.

Sammy looks around, looks at the car that’s still running and the doors that are still open and the unzipped backpacks on the ground. “Oh, God,” he says to himself. “We have to get out of here.”

**Author's Note:**

> thx for reading! pls pls PLS leave comments, they fuel me to keep writing! and you can yell at me on twitter @lcvelaces :)


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